Iranian Opposition Leaders Unbowed--As Iran Continues To Apply Pressure

Despite outright death threats, leaders of the opposition to Iran has not given up:

Iran’s opposition leaders remained defiant Wednesday despite calls from hard-liners for them to be brought to trial and put to death, with one reform advocate saying he was willing to “pay any price” in pursuit of democratic change.


Iran’s beleaguered opposition brought tens of thousands of its supporters into the streets on Monday, ostensibly to display solidarity with Egypt’s anti-government protest movement. It was also a chance for the opposition to put on its first significant show of strength in more than a year, and it set off clashes with police that killed two people and injured dozens.

A day later, furious hard-line lawmakers pumped their fists in the air in parliament and called for opposition leaders to be tried and sentenced to death. One of the pro-reform figures, Mahdi Karroubi, was unmoved.

“I declare that I am not afraid of any threat,” said Karroubi, who has been effectively kept under house arrest since first calling for the demonstrations earlier this month. “As I’ve demonstrated in serving the nation as a soldier (political activist) since 1962, I am ready to pay any price in this graceful path.”

Meanwhile, the Iranian government has decided to arrange for protests of their own:

Hundreds march at funeral for slain student amid tension in Tehran

Under tight security, hundreds of Iranians marched through the streets Wednesday in a government-sanctioned funeral for Tehran Art University student Saane Zhaleh, who died in violent clashes between pro-reform demonstrators and the police Monday.

Described by the government as the "martyr Basij," Zhaleh is said by the authorities to have been killed by government opponents when he joined Basiji militiamen to help put down the protests, which were officially prohibited by the government.

The opposition says he was shot by police. State television showed marchers carrying Iranian flags and shouting slogans against opposition leaders, including "Death to Karroubi!" and "Death to Mosavi!" referring to Mehdi Karroubi and Hossein Mousavi, who were under house arrest during the demonstrations.

The mullahs are making it clear that they have no problem executing dozens of their own people in order to hold onto power:

Last month, Iran purged dozens of political prisoners in a wave of extrajudicial executions. The Iranian regime hanged an estimated 73 people, including a 45-year-old Dutch-Iranian woman named Zahra Bahrami. Her "crime"? Attempting to replicate what Egyptian protesters have done - namely, calling for democratic reforms.

Bahrami participated in the 2009 demonstrations after rigged elections carried Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to another term in office. The Iranian judiciary framed her, alleging that she had smuggled narcotics. In response, the Netherlands froze its relations with Iran and recalled its ambassador to Tehran - becoming the first European Union country to do so.

It is no accident the Iranian regime's killing spree coincided with the mass demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made clear to his people that he is not sympathetic to their demands, and he has no qualms about shedding their blood to extinguish their pro-democracy movement.

Obama at least has talked about the situation in Iran:

You know, I find it ironic that you've got the Iranian regime pretending to celebrate what happened in Egypt, when in fact they have acted in direct contrast to what happened in Egypt by gunning down and beating people who were trying to express themselves peacefully in Iran."

The big question though is what--if anything--can the US actually do.

Technorati Tag: Iran.